Currently, offshore activity in the US Gulf of Mexico is still struggling to get back to pre-Hurricane Ida levels. It has now been almost a month since Ida made landfall directly over Port Fourchon where repairing the damaged infrastructure is proving to be a major hurdle. Luckily, the amount of offshore damaged is not as bad as…
Over the past few years, I’ve commented that the projected demise of oil and gas as fuels (as a result of renewables) was greatly exaggerated. The very aggressive goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions within the next few decades has seemed unsustainable ever since those goals were first announced by major oil and energy companies….
Deepwater drilling activity in the US GOM is a topic I tend to cover frequently and, more often than not, it is the total number of active rigs that guides my industry position. The count is very much still a focus and currently remains steady with 14 active deepwater rigs in the GOM. However, another interesting…
Back in April, I discussed the Biden administration’s imposed moratorium on new federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico and the uncertainty that it would create. I’ve stated before that prior to this moratorium, I fully expected deepwater drilling activity to increase into the latter half of 2021 with a further increases into 2022 and 2023….
Oil prices have continued to rally due to increasing demand and markets are forecasting for continued demand growth. These price increases have been driven almost entirely by progress by the U.S., Europe, and Britain in reopening their economies as the pandemic comes under control with mass vaccinations. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices have recently stabilized…
The Biden Administration’s temporary moratorium on new federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico has created some uncertainty about the future of drilling activity our region. It’s impossible to know what will happen, but it’s very hard to believe that the moratorium will persist up to the 2022 midterm elections. However, we can make some…
It is hard to believe that we are now a year removed from the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. Vaccinations are occurring at a global scale yet it is still not clear when life will return to “normal.” Depending on where you live, you may be further down the road to normal life…
Previously, I expressed my optimism in a recovering deepwater Gulf of Mexico with anticipated increased rig activity likely in 2022. There are additional factors to consider (outside of the US GOM) that can also have positive impacts on the US GOM deepwater market over the next several quarters. The level of activity in Guyana and Suriname is continuing…
One year ago today, I was very optimistic about the direction and momentum of the offshore oil and gas industry. The deepwater rig count had increased to 22 and there were fewer than four additional rigs expected to begin drilling before the year was out. Vessel day rates were trending up and by the end of…
2020 has been a year of years, and it will be interesting to see how history reflects upon this year. So much of what we have lost this year can be contributed to COVID-19, yet even though our world has changed in enormous ways, we still find ourselves holding winning hands. Our Four Winning Hands…